ITEM PHOTO BY KATIE MORRISON
Jonny Mercado goes up for a shot over Maynard’s Eric Kiley, left, and Corey Olivier.
LYNN — The in-season rematch between Maynard and St. Mary’s at the Conigliaro Gym Friday night had the potential of being a whale of a game.
The Spartans beat the Tigers in the Division 4 state final last March, and many of the same players from both teams are back.
As it turns out, the game was everything it was advertised to be — and more. The Spartans won it, 66-64, in a victory only slightly less probable than the Patriots’ 34-28 win Sunday over Atlanta in the Super Bowl.
“Down by eight, with only 47 seconds left,” said St. Mary’s coach Dave Brown. “I don’t even know how that’s possible.”
“We just couldn’t finish it,” said Maynard coach Paul Howes. “We couldn’t get our kids to the foul line.”
Maynard led, 62-54, when Stephen Fama hit a conventional 3-point play (a basket and one) with 47.7 seconds left. That set in motion a bizarre series of events, all of which worked in the Spartans’ (11-4) favor.
First, Jonny Mercado sank a bucket with 33.3 seconds left. It was at a time when the Tigers were trying not to give up the three and also trying not to foul. Mercado waltzed through an opening and laid one in.
Maynard’s Corey Olivier, who had 21 points, but only four in the second half, hit two free throws to make it a five-point game again (65-59), but Fama came down and put one in moments later and it was 66-61. The Spartans got the ball back on a turnover, and Mike Cerulli passed to Mercado, who then found Jonathan Mola.
Mola really wasn’t set. Instead, he heaved the ball up with 3.1 seconds showing on the clock, and it swished in to tie the game.
“He’s usually one of our best shooters,” said Brown. “But he had a tough time getting going tonight. I don’t know what it was, he didn’t have his confidence. But that was a good shot.”
It got weirder. Much weirder.
Maynard could not inbound the ball, tried to call a timeout before the five seconds allotted for getting the ball to a player expired. Only the Tigers didn’t have a time out.
“My fault,” said Howes. “I should have made everyone aware that we were out of timeouts.”
By rule, St. Mary’s received two technical free throws and the ball. Jalen Echevarria (18 points) nailed them both, and it was a 66-64 game.
It got weirder still.
St. Mary’s threw away the inbounds pass. It rolled from one side of the court to the other, and Maynard, still with 3.1 seconds, got the ball back. It fell to Maynard’s Timmy Lawton to inbound the ball, with St. Mary’s Lisandro Pacheco, a freshman guard, jumping up and down like a kangaroo, pressuring the pass.
It worked. The Tigers lost the ball when the time to inbound expired. St. Mary’s was able to get it in this time, and the seconds ticked away for the improbable win.
Brown was quick to give kudos to senior co-captain Cerulli. The defensive specialist had the task of being asked to cover Olivier, who had a 3-point binge in the first half, scoring 18 points.
But in the second half, Olivier, still with Cerulli (for the most part) guarding him, only managed four.
“And he didn’t get that basket until the fourth quarter,” Brown said.
Fama also had 18 points for St. Mary’s. Mola had 12 and Mercado 11.
Eric Kiley had 17 for Maynard.
